The Monsters That Helped Put Sharknado On the Map

Syfy’s disaster-horror movie “Sharknado” took a bite out of Twitter last night. The TV film, about a storm that brings sharks to Los Angeles, spawned a top trending hashtag #Sharknado, and, in an even tougher feat, added new spark to co-star Tara Reid’s career.

Today, we chatter about Sharknado-like creatures with ironic humor. But there was a time when such monsters were on the map.

“Sea Monsters on Medieval and Renaissance Maps,” published by the British Library in June, follows the development of aquatic beasts on maps from the 10th century through the 16th century. Scholar Chet Van Duzer spent about three years on and off studying the creatures, from the ferocious to the whimsical. Along the way, he found sea pigs, sea dogs, sirens and more.

Alas, no Sharknadoes.

Check out some images from the exhibition.

National Library of Sweden

Hand colored image from 1572 from the Carta Marina in the map collection of the National Library of Sweden.

National Library of Sweden

Watch out for the octopus lobster in this hand colored image from 1572 taken from the Carta Marina in the map collection of the National Library of Sweden.

(c) The British Library.

British Library illustrations from the book “Sea Monsters in Medieval & Renaissance Maps. In this image we see “An ichthyocentaur playing a viol on the map of Scandinavia in Ortelius’s ‘Theatrum orbis terrarum.’”